Singing Hyms of Praise

A Lady with a Smile Reflects on the Past

Mrs. Zelda Caroline Matute was born on October 12, 1932 in Camp Bay. Her mother was Kelzaline Hernádez from Guanaja and her father was Edward Matute from Politilly. Her father was a farmer hired to “plant ground, cut ground,” Mrs. Zelda describes.

She was born the sixth of ten children. “I had a bad, hard life,” Mrs. Zelda said of her early years. It was full of heavy, manual work harvesting bananas and fishing. She was just 15 when she began helping her parents to clear cut bush. Work clearing fields of bush and weeds employed many people on the island in the 1930s and 40s.

Mrs. Zelda married early. At 16 she met Harry McLaughlin, a local man who was looking to start a family. The next year, Mrs. Zelda was married in a simple ceremony at the “cabildo.” Mrs. Zelda and Mr. Harry ended up having 12 children, two boys and 10 girls.

O’Rella Bailey was the midwife that delivered all 12 of Mrs. Zelda’s children. Back then the delivery cost Lps. 35, 40 at the most. Mrs. Zelda was strong and healthy as were all her children.

She began helping her parents to clear cut bush.

The Achilles heel of the islanders was their dental troubles. There was no dentist, so people did their own dental work. The dental care consisted mostly of extractions, most often by pulling ailing teeth that would cause pain. Mrs. Zelda says all her teeth were pulled that way, usually with the assistance of helpful neighbors with pliers and a steady hand.

The Achilles heel of the islanders was their dental troubles. There was no dentist, so people did their own dental work. The dental care consisted mostly of extractions, most often by pulling ailing teeth that would cause pain. Mrs. Zelda says all her teeth were pulled that way, usually with the assistance of helpful neighbors with pliers and a steady hand.

Mrs. Zelda is most proud of her children. Now almost ninety, she is looked after by her four daughters. Two years ago her arthritis got really bad and made walking painful. Mrs. Zelda spends all her time in her large wooden house on the eastern side of Diamond Rock.

Mrs. Zelda still cooks for herself, but needs assistance from her daughters to prepare vegetables and other cooking ingredients. She spends her time “praying and singing. (…) I like hearing Christian hymns,” says Mrs. Zelda. Her favorite hymn is “What would I do without Jesus?”